This dissertation, "Planning for Hong Kong: a World City Moving Into the 21st Century" by Wai-man, Karina, Mok, 莫慧敏, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. DOI: 10.5353/th_b3125902 Subjects: City planning - China - Hong Kong

Regional Development and Planning for the 21st Century examines a number of related themes including: the traditional approach of local and regional planning initiatives developed within the context of national goals; the current decline of bi-polar political and ideological blocs; political decentralization and concurrent economic centralization including the growth of multi-national corporations; devolution of centralized planning powers to regions and localities, and the rise and acceptance of sustainable development concepts. The book is divided into five parts addressing: 1 - adjustments to political, economic and social change; 2 the problems of urban housing and housing and health; 3 - adjustments to environmental change, development policies and sustainability; 4 - the problem of rapid urban growth and mega cities; 5 - adjustments of changing urban networks. The contributors are from several countries worldwide and the chapters examine the issues at a global level.

Sustainable Development in Hong Kong provides a unique and pioneering examination of what the application of the ideas of sustainable development implies for Hong Kong with all its exceptional characteristics, political, social, ecological, and especially its very high urban density. The book brings together, for the first time, a broad cross-section of 21 public and private sector specialists in the many and varied aspects of sustainable development. In so doing, it demonstrates the breadth and depth of local knowledge and expertise in the subject, as well as the wide range of concepts and issues that will have to be considered and interests reconciled, for the concept to be fully implemented in Hong Kong. Sustainable development has been defined as: "development that meets the needs of today whilst not affecting the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Implementing this concept requires that decision-makers from all stakeholder groups (government, business and the public) not only commit to sustainable development, but also incorporate it at every level of decision-making regardless of the political, economic, social, technological, cultural and legal frameworks within which their decisions are made. It also requires that, before doing so, they hear, respect and utilize the input from each other in these decisions. Sustainable development was placed squarely on the political agenda in Hong Kong through the Chief Executive's commitment to it in his Policy Address in 1999. This was followed by the adoption of it as an overriding objective in Hong Kong 2030: Planning Vision and Strategy (2001) and the establishment of the Sustainable Development Unit (2001) and the Council for Sustainable Development (2003). This is a book for all who are concerned about Hong Kong's environment and about its future development. The exceptional nature of Hong Kong means that this book also provides a valuable extreme case study for all who work in the sustainable development field.

This report highlights that economic, societal and environmental changes are happening rapidly and technologies are developing at an unprecedented pace, but education systems are relatively slow to adapt. Time lag in curriculum redesign refers to the discrepancies between the content of today’s curriculum and the diverse needs of preparing students for the future.

This book was written with the aim of showing that even in the era of globalization developments appearing in cities are not subject to almost unconditional global forces. Rather, universal forces are decisive eventualities in the process of urban restructuring, often influencing its course and speed, yet developments and particularities within a city strongly influence the course of events and the extent to which negative characteristics of globalization might occur. Berlin, Brussels, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sarajevo and Vienna: Using these important cities the special relationship between global and local/regional forces is analyzed. The case studies were selected based on their political and cultural context and the fact that their social and political fabric was subject to major changes in the recent past. How global processes manifest themselves locally depends to a great extent on how development processes and endogenic potentials are initiated locally in order to cope with the new global economic and societal conditions.